US consumer deleveraging just bottomed

US consumer deleveraging just bottomed. US consumer credit showed an impressive increase at the end of last year as Americans went shopping. Consumer credit outstanding, excluding real-estate debt, stood above $3.1 trillion in December, rising in a nearly linear fashion since 2011. However, a different story emerges if you exclude non market based credit such as student loans. Under this scenario consumer credit has barely increased since mid 2013. Even this measure, however, does not tell the whole story. The overall US economy (and the population) has grown since the financial crisis and in order to make a fair comparison one needs look at the trend relative to the nation's GDP. A very different picture emerges - one of significant consumer deleveraging that is only now beginning to stabilize. Read more (VIEW LINK)